Shortly after WWE announced that Vince McMahon was stepping down as CEO and Chairman following the investigation into an alleged affair that he had with a paralegal who left the company this year and was paid $3 million as part of a settlement, WWE announced McMahon would appear on tonight’s SmackDown as Mr. McMahon.
It was later reported that McMahon will be in character during the appearance. Fightful Select reports that many in WWE are unhappy with McMahon’s decision to appear on the show as it’s seen as a largely superficial move.
One source referred to it as a “cheap ratings ploy” while others plan to speak to Vince to express their displeasure at his appearance.
Some have speculated that McMahon will try to make the investigation into not only the affair, but also other nondisclosure agreements that involve misconduct claims made by other former female WWE employees about McMahon and WWE’s head of talent relations John Laurinaitis, as a ‘McMahon vs. The World’ narrative that McMahon did when he was going through the steroid trials of the early 1990s.
Stephanie McMahon has been announced as interim CEO and Chairwoman of WWE. One talent told the media outlet that they’re hopeful that Stephanie’s return will lead to an improvement for female talent who have suffered under the John Laurinaitis era.
WWE announced this morning that Stephanie McMahon will take over as the interim CEO and Chairwoman of the company as Vince McMahon has temporarily stepped down as CEO and Chairman of WWE during his ongoing investigation. He will still be in charge of creative.
Fightful Select has spoken to several people backstage in the company about the change including a top WWE star that said they didn’t really know what was going on, but that they’ve ‘heard in theory Stephanie McMahon is my boss, and that f*cking rules.’
A former employee that worked with Stephanie said that ‘the tone was always that she would be in that role eventually. She knows and breathes the business and she’s seamless.’ They noted that the narrative around friction between Nick Khan and Stephanie wasn’t something they’d personally experienced.
Another top star said, ‘I imagine it won’t change much. But I love Steph. So that’s good. I imagine Vince keeps his position in creative and once the investigation is over he’ll take back over if he can.”
As previously reported, Vince is slated to appear on tonight’s episode of SmackDown as Mr. McMahon. Stephanie announced a month ago that she was taking a leave of absence from WWE to focus on her family.
WWE SmackDown commentator Pat McAfee gave his thoughts on the situation involving Vince McMahon after the Wall Street Journal published a report on Wednesday stating the WWE board of directors is investigating McMahon regarding a secret $3 million settlement regarding an alleged affair.
The investigation began in April when other nondisclosure agreements involving claims by former female WWE employees of misconduct by McMahon and John Laurinaitis.
“Yesterday, the WWE, I know less than everybody else. This is just me, I don’t know shit about fuck. I go in, do my thing, say hello to everybody, I’m out. I’m in, maybe the most awesome situation in the history of WWE for anybody. I’m a lifelong fan of the company, but I’m not part of anything. I’m part of no groups, I have no locker room. I literally bounce around, do my thing, and I’m out.
It’s designed to be that way, I think Michael Cole and everyone have set it up to be that way. ‘This is the best way for this to happen, let’s keep him out of everything. He comes in and does his thing.’ I’m very fortunate, lucky, and I love that job. Outside looking in, it’s like, [makes a curious face].
After watching Succession, anytime a board is trying to do something, it’s hard not to be like, ‘woah, woah, woah.’ Yesterday, on the Internet, there was a lot of ‘who is, what is.’ I’m going there tomorrow. I’m excited to hear the chatter. Obviously, what is being alleged is not fantastic at all, it’s terrible. There will be full investigations.”
McAfee was asked why everything was coming out now. He noted that this came out of nowhere and there are going to be investigations about the investigations and those investigations will contradict other investigations.
He continued, “For a good 9-10 hours, it was just, ‘holy shit, I’m learning a lot about a lot of things.’ What’s real, what isnt? Who knows. Hopefully, I’ll find out at some point. Hopefully, we all will. Who knows how that whole thing will go. It sounds incredibly problematic.”
McAfee added that he was trending because of McMahon’s comments made on McAfee’s show during an interview in March, specifically when Vince referred to Linda as “my wife at the time.”
Fightful noted that after speaking directly with Wrestling Inc’s Raj Giri, who broke the news, they were told that Banks’ lawyers were involved and there had been eyes on a physical WWE release. However, they couldn’t confirm a release has been made.
As previously noted, Banks and Naomi walked out of the company on May 16th at a Raw event because they had a creative dispute with Vince McMahon regarding booking leading into Hell in a Cell that would’ve seen Banks vs. SmackDown Women’s Champion Ronda Rousey and Naomi vs. Raw Women’s Champion Bianca Belair.
It was later announced the two were indefinitely suspended and stripped of the WWE Women’s Tag Team Titles as a result. Also, their merchandise was also removed from WWE Shop and their deals were put on hold.
It was reported that Naomi was negotiating for a new contract at the time of the walkout while Banks’ deal still has a lot of time left.
The Dyad (with Joe Gacy) defeated Javier Bernal and Dante Chen. Post-match, Joe Gacy cut a promo.
NXT Champion Bron Breakker defeated Duke Hudson.
Giovanni Vinci (the former Fabian Aichner) defeated Guru Raaj.
Carmelo Hayes and Trick Williams defeated Two Dimes and Stacks
Cora Jade, Roxanne Perez, and Indi Hartwell defeated Toxic Attraction (Mandy Rose, Gigi Dolin, and Jacy Jayne.).
Here are the takeaways from this week’s show:
Six-Woman Tag Team Match
Mandy Rose, Gigi Dolin & Jacy Jayne vs. Roxanne Perez, Cora Jade & Indi Hartwell took place with the babyfaces going over.
During it, there was an injury scare as Cora hit Gigi with a cannonball senton and went to pick up Gigi who did not get up before Cora quickly picked her up. Gigi was helped to the back. She came back out for an in-ring promo later at the next taping so she is seemingly fine.
There was a promo backstage with NXT Champion Bron Breakker where Duke Hudson confronted him. Hudson mentioned how he has a win over Bron. He challenged Bron for the NXT Title and Bron accepted.
Later in the show, Breakker defeated Hudson to retain his title. It was a one-sided beatdown. Post-match, Cameron Grimes came out to issue a challenge for the NXT Title at The Great American Bash special on July 5th. Grimes cut a promo on Bron discussing how Bron has been given more than Grimes has.
Giovanni Vinci (the former Fabian Aichner) defeated Guru Raaj in a singles match. He went over in a squash match with the powerbomb as his finisher.
Before the announcement, there had already been speculation that the role was for Aichner due to the fact the vignettes that have aired for him were shot in Vence and Aichner is from Italy. Aichner was shown in a suit but his face wasn’t shown until last week.
Tony D’Angelo, Stacks, Two Dimes, Santos Escobar, Cruz Del Toro, and Joaquin Wilde did a promo in the ring. Tony promoted them in the family and gave them some fancy watches. Tony gave Two Dimes a check and told him to go get a steak dinner. He gave Stacks another check.
Tony said that Wilde takes orders from him, not Santos. Tony told them in the family, they take an oath of silence and loyalty. He shook their hands.
Carmelo Hayes and Trick Williams interrupted it. D’Angelo challenging Hayes for the NXT North American Championship was set up for the following week.
Jon Moxley‘s autobiography, MOX, is now available in audio form after the initial book was released on November 2, 2021, via Simon and Schuster publishing.
MOX is narrated by the AEW star himself, which makes it even better. The run time is listed as 9 hours and 6 minutes long. You can check it out on Audible.
After making a name for himself on the independent scene, he joined WWE where he was repackaged as Dean Ambrose and made his main roster debut as a member of The Shield along with Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins. After years with the company and several championships held, Moxley made the call to leave WWE in 2019 where he signed with AEW.
Jon Moxley Book Description
The description reads like the following:
“A vivid trip through the mind of the top professional wrestler in the business—a nobody from nowhere who achieved his ambitions and walked away with the gold and the girl of his dreams.
Ride alongside Jon Moxley as he retraces some of the highways traveled on his remarkable journey. Revel in the never-before-told stories about his early life in Cincinnati, Ohio; the gritty independent wrestling scene where he cut his teeth; the complicated corporate landscape of the WWE where he bucked against authority; and the rebellious upstart AEW, where he won the championship in 2020 and was finally free to achieve the vision of the wrestler he’d always wanted to be.
With plenty of pitstops and revelatory insights, including grizzly ultraviolent encounters, crazy characters who became lifelong friends, and his unforgettable matches in Japan, MOX is the riveting account of the life of a brawler. It is a tale written in blood and soaked in debauchery, with a good dose of wisdom accumulated along the way.
More than a backstage pass into the arena, MOX is a ticket into the ring. Once inside, you’ll never look at pro wrestling the same again.”
“It’s a heavy emphasis on international competition, but the US can get involved in the competition. And I think it’s a great way to spotlight a lot of the international wrestlers in AEW, and the international presence that AEW’s developed over the years now with our shows on in 130 countries around the world and great ratings in so many huge international markets, including every week finishing as the number one wrestling company in the UK and our ratings there continue to rise.
“So for the international fans and for the international wrestlers on the roster, I felt like it would create more opportunities. But I also don’t think this title or these opportunities are exclusive to the international wrestlers. But it’s a big benefit of the term.”
NJPW will have two qualifying matches for the All Atlantic tournament as part of their New Japan Road tour event on June 20th.
The qualifying matches will see Tomoaki Honma take on Clark Connors and Suzuki-gun’s Yoshinobu Kanemaru battle Tomohiro Ishii. The winners of these bouts will face each other on June 21 in Korakuen Hall with the winner of that bout moving on to the finals. On the AEW side of the tournament, PAC has already advanced. Ethan Page vs. Miro and Malakai Black vs. Penta Oscuro still needs to take place.
The finals will take place at the AEW x NJPW: Forbidden Door pay-per-view event on June 26th to become the first-ever AEW All Atlantic Champion.
Jake Crist, most known for his stint in Impact Wrestling, shared a video of him dousing two title belts with gasoline and then lit them on fire. The belts he burned were the IWA World Championship and the IWA Mid-South World Junior Heavyweight Championship which he had held for over 200 days.
He told Ian Rotten in the video that he gave him a month to pay him and since the former ECW star burnt this bridge, he thought he would do a little burning himself. At this time, Rotten has yet to comment on Crist’s actions.
For everyone that’s been screwed over by a promotion this is for you! For the people!!! No excuses, you should have paid me, what’s done is done! pic.twitter.com/ScDLi4SNyX
Accountability. I said that last night in a space. If we can't hold people accountable for their actions then nothing will change. I have to stand by @TheJakeCrist to hold IWA accountable for their actions!
Since it has been the talk of indie wrestling the last couple of days I have decided that I am going to withdraw from @IWAMidSouth King of the Deathmatches. I stand with @TheJakeCrist and @TheDukeJWM.
— The Bloodbath Behemoth (@Tank_Est1996) June 14, 2022
The promotion was founded by Rotten in 1996 and based out of Indiana. IWA Mid-South was a starting place for several notable wrestlers includingColt Cabana, Chris Hero, and CM Punk. The promotion has had some controversial moments in the past including Rotten being accused of not paying talent.
Jeff Jarrett had a confrontation with Rotten’s son after a reported pay dispute between Jarrett and Rotten.
On a day when fans were disappointed with Jeff Hardy because he was arrested again for DUI, Reby Hardy decided to make light of the situation.
Reby, who is married to Jeff’s brother Matt, made a Tik-Tok video of her praying with the caption of “praying my husband doesn’t get hurt in his ladder match Wednesday” before inserting a clip of Tiger King’s Joe Exotic saying, “guest what motherf**ker” with a Jeff Hardy caption on his chest.
It appears that she won’t have to worry about Matt working the 3-way Ladder Match on Dynamite where The Hardys were scheduled to face The Young Bucks and Tag Team Champions Jurassic Express as AEW is no longer advertising the bout for the show.
As previously reported, Hardy has been charged with Driving While License Canceled/Suspended/Revoked, Violation of Restrictions Placed on Drivers License, and DUI Alcohol/Drugs Third Offense within 10 Years.
His blood alcohol level read 0.294 while the second sample read 0.291, which the legal limit to drive in Florida is .08, which means that he was over 3-times the legal limit.
AEW has not yet made a statement on Hardy’s arrest but Dave Meltzer is reporting that WarnerMedia told the promotion to stop all promotion of Jeff immediately, which would include all commercials.
Triple H continues to make more public appearances for WWE after suffering a life-threatening medical situation last year as he recently was with the new WWE NIL class.
On Monday, the company announced that 15 college athletes will be joining the “Next In Line” program. The second NIL class features athletes from 14 universities. The first NIL class was announced last year.
Ali Mattox of Ole Miss, a 5-foot-7 cheer & dance athlete from Little Rock, Ark.
Case Hatch of Arizona State, a 6-foot-1, 230-pound football player from Gilbert, Ariz.
Chandler Hayden of Tennessee, a 5-foot-11 track & field athlete from Pittsfield, Ill.
Cohlton Schultz of Arizona State, a 6-foot-2, 285-pound wrestler from Parker, Colo.
Derrian Gobourne of Auburn, a 5-foot-4 gymnast from Sarasota, Fla.
Ericka Link of Elon, a 5-foot-6 volleyball player from Hedgesville, W.Va.
Keshaun Moore of Hampton, a 6-foot-3, 270-pound football player from Suffolk, Va.
Luke Ford of Illinois, a 6-foot-6, 260-pound football player from Carterville, Ill.
Maliq Carr of Michigan State, a 6-foot-5, 245-pound football and basketball player from Inkster, Mich.
Mikala Hall of Central Michigan, a 5-foot-5 basketball player from Danville, Ill.
Rachel Glenn of South Carolina, a 6-foot track & field athlete from Long Beach, Calif.
Ruben Banks of Arkansas, a 6-foot-4, 270-pound track & field athlete from Binfield, England
Thunder Keck of Stanford, a 6-foot-3, 245-pound football player from Northfield, N.H.
Tyanna Omazic of Miami, a 6-foot-2 volleyball player from Kansas City, Mo.
Zachary Knighton-Ward of Hofstra, a 6-foot-2, 285-pound wrestler from Rosedale, N.Y.
Triple H is back full-time in the WWE office after he suffered a cardiac event last September where he was struggling with viral pneumonia and was at risk for heart failure.
Fans should expect to not see at least three AEW stars compete at the upcoming AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door – Andrade El Idolo and The Lucha Bros
Andrade had previously tweeted that he cannot work with NJPW and cited CMLL and AAA Lucha Libre as the reasons why which led to speculation about his status for the June 26th show.
Lucha Blog reports that not only will Andrade be missing AEW’s crossover show with New Japan, but Penta Oscuro and Rey Fenix will be missing the show as well.
“I’ve since been told Andrade was booked on Forbidden Door and is no longer booked on Forbidden Door. Fenix & Penta will also not be appearing on Forbidden Door, as confirmed to me by multiple sources. Andrade’s tweet should be taken at face value. This is bad for everyone,” The blog stated.
Penta is one of the eight men in the AEW All-Atlantic Championship Tournament where if he beats Malakai Black then he would be going on to the pay-per-view to compete for the title. However, with him not being scheduled for the show, that’s a clear indication he won’t be going over in the bout to advance.
Jeff Hardy was arrested and charged with DUI for a third time on early Monday morning.
Pwinsider.com reports the AEW star was bonded out of jail in Volusia County, Florida this evening at 7:07 PM paying a $3,500 bond. He is slated to appear in court on Tuesday at 1:30 PM.
Hardy has been charged with Driving While License Canceled/Suspended/Revoked, Violation of Restrictions Placed on Drivers License, and DUI Alcohol/Drugs Third Offense within 10 Years.
ESPN’s Marc Raimondi was able to get more information on Hardy’s arrest as a police officer observed a white car “swerving” and “running off” the roadway on Monday around 12:30 am. An officer made the traffic stop and noticed Hardy seemed to be “in a stupor and confused.”
As Hardy left his car, he was unsteady and smelled of alcohol and through conversations, the officer learned that Hardy had been drinking. Hardy was not able to complete the sobriety exercises successfully and his blood alcohol level read 0.294. While the second sample read 0.291. The legal limit to drive in Florida is .08, which means that he was over 3-times the legal limit.
It appears Jeff has been pulled from Wednesday’s AEW Dynamite where he and his brother Matt were scheduled to face The Young Bucks and Tag Team Champions Jurassic Express in a 3-way Ladder Match.
Big E recently took a step further to make his return to in-ring action after suffering a broken neck as he shared a video on Instagram of him tossing his neck brace in the trash can, an indication he isn’t required to wear it anymore.
Big E shared a video of him getting rid of his neck brace.
Last month, the former WWE Champion shared a photo on Instagram of himself where he was not wearing a neck brace because he was using an Exogen device that is an ultrasound bone healing system, which helps by sending waves to amplify your body’s natural bone repair processes.
Big E suffered the neck injury this past March when he landed awkwardly on the top of his head after taking a suplex from Ridge Holland on an episode of SmackDown.
He fractured the C1 and C6, but didn’t suffer a non-displacement. He also didn’t damage his spinal cord nor suffer any ligament damage and didn’t need surgery.
Although Big E previously stated on Twitter that his C1 wasn’t healing optimally and had to be in the brace for another 4-6 weeks to avoid getting fusion surgery, the fact that he isn’t wearing the neck brace anymore is great sign.
Posted June 13th, 2022 in News, WWE. Tagged: Big E.
Gunther has dethroned Ricochet as the WWE Intercontinental Champion as he won the title from him on Friday’s episode of SmackDown.
The match took place in the second hour and featured Ricochet trying to avoid the big power shots of Gunther. Ricochet tried to make a comeback but was cut down by a powerbomb for the finish.
Gunther finished up his short run in NXT on April 5th by losing to NXT Champion Bron Breakker. While in NXT UK, he was the NXT UK Champion for 870 days as he held it from 2019 through 2021.
Since making his SmackDown debut in April, Gunther has been booked strongly. In recent weeks, he crossed paths with Ricochet after the former champion came to the aid of Drew Gulak.
When WALTER went through the major name change, WWE received backlash over it. WWE abandoned its trademark filing on the original name, Gunther Stark because there was a person with the same name who severed as a Nazi Germany military commander during World War II.
As previously reported, Vince McMahon is high on Gunther’s in-ring work and he has impressed people of influence in WWE for many things including being willing to play ball by losing weight, changing his name, and handling the Imperium split in a positive way.
Jim Ross has been through and seen a lot during his time in the pro wrestling business.
He got a chance to speak with Martha Hart, widow of Owen Hart at AEW Double Or Nothing where the promotion held the finals of the Owen Hart Cup Tournament that saw Adam Cole win the men’s tournament while Britt Baker won the women’s.
The WWE Hall of Famer explained on Grilling JR how his backstage interaction with Martha went and noted that he got emotional.
“I had a chance in the little green room environment in there, to sit and chat with Martha,” Ross stated. “I did exactly what I told myself I was not going to do and that was cry. I couldn’t help it and so it was very emotional. She was a gracious and glorious host, shall we say, of this event.”
Not only did Ross call matches for WWE, but he was also Head of Talent Relations in the company and got to know Hart over the years. Hart passed away in May 1999 at the Over The Edge PPV when he fell from his harness while being lowered down into the ring as The Blue Blazer.
Ross broke the news to fans that Hart had passed away. WWE continued with the show, which was heavily criticized due to the nature of the situation.
The Rock gave his thoughts on the Hell In A Cell match from this past Sunday night between Seth Rollins and Cody Rhodes that saw Rhodes put on a gutsy performance by wrestling with a torn pectoral muscle.
Entering the match, Rhodes had two straight wins over Rollins, but unfortunately, he tore his pectoral tendon off the bone less than a week before it took place.
Rhodes went over in the match that was built around the injury with Rollins targeting it by using various weapons. Many fans have praised Rhodes for gutting through the injury to still put on the match.
Rhodes posted a reel from the match on social media, which drew the attention of The Rock. The Rock praised them on Twitter by writing the following: “Holy shit. Proud of both, you and Seth. Go make your money.”
On Thursday, Rhodes underwent successful surgery on his torn pec. Although Rhodes hinted at participating in the Money in the Bank ladder match at the premium live event on July 2nd, It is unknown when he will return to the ring, but former WWE medic Dr. Chao has said that Cody should be healed up within four to six months. He could even do some stuff within just over three months if it was carefully done.
Holy shit. Proud of both, you and Seth. Go make your money!! ??????
Although AEW has a loaded roster, there have been several wrestlers out with injuries. The good news is some of those stars are getting closer to returning to in-ring action, which is much needed after AEW World Heavyweight Champion CM Punk went down with an injury that will result in him getting surgery.
He’s expected to be out of action for several months and the promotion is crowing an Interim World Champion at the Forbidden Door pay-per-view event later this month.
AEW President Tony Khan is thanking fans for watching this week’s Dynamite — and also hinted at several injured stars coming back soon.
“I appreciate you wrestlers/staff/fans, & excited for *many* injured stars returning as we approach Road Rager + Forbidden Door!”
– Tony Khan
AEW’s Sidelined Stars
Kenny Omega, Bryan Danielson, Sting, Orange Cassidy, and Kip Sabian are just some of the names that have been sidelined. Of course, AEW World Champion CM Punk is also out of action with a foot injury, but won’t be back in action any time soon.
Omega’s last match came when he dropped the AEW World Championship to “Hangman” Adam Page at Full Gear. He took time off to heal up from various injuries and has since undergone arthroscopic knee surgery as well as surgery to repair a sports hernia.
In late May, Sting took a double superkick from The Young Bucks and he had his ankle smashed by Kyle O’Reilly. It’s possible that the angle was done to cover for a nagging injury that he needed to take care of as he was pulled from the AEW meet and greets over Double Or Nothing weekend.
Danielson was hurt in the Anarchy in the Arena match at Double Or Nothing, although there’s no exact word on the injury. He is only expected to be out of action for 1 or 2 weeks.
KiLynn King is no longer working for AEW at least for now.
King did an interview with Fightful and confirmed that she was done with All Elite Wrestling after spending two years there and working dozens of matches.
The promotion didn’t offer her a new contract so she let them know that she was very appreciative for them giving her a chance but wanted to explore some different paths, as well as help, make an impression in wrestling somewhere else.
Billy Gunn, who works as a producer/wrestler for the promotion, told her that the door remains open. She said that she was very grateful for her time there, and hopes she can return in the future. She is not under a full-time contract with NWA and is still a free agent.
King stated that when she was booked to go over in her matches despite originally being brought in as an enhancement talent was a shock to her. After she got her first win in AEW, she thought they were getting a look at the TNA veteran Lei’D Tapa, but Dustin Rhodes told her that she was winning, then it just kept happening.
King will challenge Kamille for the NWA Women’s Title at the Alwayz Ready pay-per-view this Saturday that will air on FITE TV at 7 pm EST with the price tag of $24.99.
WWE has changed its internal roster following Tuesday’s episode of NXT.
As previously noted, Apollo Crews returned to WWE NXT last night following Bron Breakker asking for someone new to step up to be his new challenger. In the main event, Crews teamed with Solo Sikoa where they beat Carmelo Hayes and Grayson Waller.
Crews is back in NXT to stay as PWInsider reports that he is now officially internally listed as part of the NXT roster as is Commander Azeez.
Azeez did not appear on last night’s show with Crews so it remains to be seen if they will be paired moving forward.
WWE put the two stars together from WWE WrestleMania 37 onward. When Crews showed up on NXT TV, he had dropped his Nigerian accent that he was using all throughout his time as a heel on the main roster with Azeez.
Crews worked briefly in NXT when he first joined WWE, but was called up after WrestleMania 32 in 2016. Azeez, also known as Babatunde and Dabba Kato, never had a notable run in NXT. He worked The Greatest Royal Rumble in Saudi Arabia back in 2018.
The June 7, 2022 episode of WWE NXT aired live on the USA Network from Orlando, Florida at the Capitol Wrestling Center.
WWE NXT Results
Josh Briggs (w/Brooks Jensen & Fallon Henley) def. Von Wagner (w/ Mr. Stone & Sofia Cromwell).
Roxanne Perez def. Tiffany Stratton to win Women’s Breakout Tournament
Nathan Frazer def. Santos Escobar.
Alba Fyre def. Tatum Paxley.
Apollo Crews & Solo Sikoa def. Carmelo Hayes & Grayson Waller.
Here are the takeaways from this week’s show:
Roxanne Perez vs. Tiffany Stratton
Roxanne Perez vs. Tiffany Stratton in the NXT Women’s Breakout Tournament finals took place with the winner receiving a contract for a future NXT Women’s Championship shot.
Perez defeated Kiana James in the first round of the tournament and Lash Legend in the semifinals while Stratton was a late addition to the tournament as she replaced Nikkita Lyons in the semifinals because of Lyons being out of action with an injury. Stratton defeated Fallon Henley to advance to the finals.
The match took place in the middle of the show and was back and forth. Tiffany botched a moonsault and Perez hit a sunset flip powerbomb for the win.
Post-match, Toxic Attraction came out. Mandy Rose said that Perez needs to enjoy this moment and it’s all downhill from here. She said that Perez will fail if she challenges her. Rose talked trash about Cora Jade and a brawl broke out. Indie Hartwell came out to even the odds and the babyfaces stood tall.
Josh Briggs vs. Von Wagner
Josh Briggs vs. Von Wagner in a singles match took place.
This match was set up when Wagner caused a distraction that allowed Grayson Waller to defeat Briggs in a singles match last week. Post-match, Wagner attacked Briggs, but was eventually called off by Sofia Cromwell.
This was the first match of the night. Briggs went over after taking Brooks Jensen’s cast and hitting Wagner in the face before hitting a clothesline.
At Saturday’s In Your House, there was a video package shown about Fyre. Backstage, Lash Legend didn’t seem impressed by Fyre and didn’t want to face her. However, Paxley disagreed and said that she would be the one to step up and challenge Fyre.
Fyre went over with a swantom bomb off the top rope for the win. Post-match, Lash Legend laid out Fyre.
WWE NXT Champion Bron Breakker retained the title over Joe Gacy at Saturday’s In Your House special. So what was next for him on this show?
Breakker said Gacy was a tough challenge, but no matter what he did to test him, Gacy wasn’t going to take the title from him. He said NXT is special. He said everyone wants a shot at the title and the question is who is going to step up. Apollo Crews came out. Crews said he’s here for as long as he wants to be. He said Bron is one of the best athletes in all of WWE and he loves NXT. He said he left NXT way too soon and he wants to accomplish those things. He’s back to change history and to make it by becoming NXT Champion. Crews said he would see him down the road. They shook hands.
In the main event, Apollo teamed with Solo Sikoa to take on Cameron Grimes and Grayson Waller.
Bron Breakker appeared on tonight’s NXT 2.0 after successfully defending the NXT Championship at In Your House this past Saturday night over Joe Gacy. Breakker cut a promo about it before asking who is next to challenge him for the title. Answering the call was the Raw star.
Crews thanked the crowd for their warm welcome and put over Breakker for his rise in NXT. He said they’ll cross paths for the title soon, but until then, Crews will see him around.
Crews also noted that left NXT way too soon in his first stint and left many goals unaccomplished. He plans to change history by becoming NXT Champion.
Crews spent several years on the NXT brand before being called up to the main roster in 2016. In 2021, he went to a ‘Nigerian Royalty’ character that kicked off his reign as Intercontinental Champion, but he eventually lost the title this past August.
Last October, he was moved from SmackDown to Monday Night Raw as a part of the WWE Draft. Crews had been paired with Commander Azeez.
Crews previously stated he would love an NXT return and felt his first run was cut short. Now, that wish has been granted.
CM Punk provided additional comments about his injury during the latest AEW Road To video that was done to promote Wednesday’s Dynamite from Kansas City.
The AEW World Heavyweight Champion announced on last Friday’s AEW Rampage that he suffered an injury, and will be out of action for some time as he recovers from surgery.
Punk stated that although he offered to give up the title, AEW President Tony Khan nixed that idea.
“I probably wasn’t as clear as I should have been. I offered to relinquish the title, but Tony told me that under no circumstances was I allowed to do that.”
He added, “It means a lot to me that this place as a whole believes in me enough to let me just go get fixed.”
There’s still no word yet on exactly when Punk will be getting surgery, but it will be very soon, possibly as soon as this week.
Crowning an Interim AEW World Champion
Tony Schiavone talked about how it impacts not only Punk but also the promotion as he is one of their biggest stars.
“The injury to CM Punk was horrible not only because it took him out of action, but of course what it did to us in AEW because he’s one of the biggest stars in pro wrestling in the world.”
Punk will not be relinquishing the title. Instead, an Interim World Champion will be crowned at the June 26th AEW X NJPW Forbidden Door PPV event. An Eliminator Series was created by Khan that will see battle royal be held at the top of Dynamite this week. In the main event of this same show, the winner will take on Jon Moxley.
The winner of the AEW side of the tournament will face the winner of the NJPW Dominion match this Sunday between Hiroshi Tanahashi and Hirooki Goto in the finals at Forbidden Door.
Schiavone praised Khan for coming up with this tournament so quickly and it makes the matches happening on Wednesday’s Dynamite that more special as it’s part of history.
William Regal has opened up on a situation during a plane flight in 1997 that resulted in him being arrested. This was at a time when he was working for WCW and was battling addictions to drugs and alcohol. The flight was from Tokyo, Japan to Detroit Michigan.
During the latest episode of his “Gentleman Villain,” Regal described the incident. He noted that the story has been blown out of proportion to what actually happened.
Regal admitted he took some pills before everything happened. He went to the toilet and there was a concertina door so he stood there and his foot was stopping the door from shutting.
“I hadn’t locked the door. A stewardess came behind me and said, ‘Excuse me, sir.’ I turned around and nothing funny or clever about it, I peed on the lady’s foot. They landed the plane and I woke up in a jail cell in Alaska. I wasn’t the only person on that plane. I wasn’t the reason that they landed that plane.”
Regal continued, “There was a paparazzi guy in the back who flipped out and started punching people. That was the reason they landed that and they just threw me off. I’m not going to incriminate anyone, but they threw a couple of other wrestlers off because they were doing things as well. They were like me. They won’t have any idea what they were doing. But I do know what they were doing because WCW investigated this and I found out what they were doing. They got away with it. I didn’t. Soon as this went to court, this lady said, ‘No, he wasn’t doing anything malicious. It was just a drunken incident.”
After being let go by WWE last year following 21 years with the company, he signed with AEW this past March where he has since managed The Black Pool Fight Club.
As advertised, Edge revealed the latest member of The Judgment Day faction on Monday Night Raw and it’s Finn Balor. However, there was a twist.
Edge, Rhea Ripley, and Damian Priest came out to the ring for a promo. Edge talked about how proud he is of them and says Rhea is a superstar wrecking machine. He said Priest has confidence like no other because they listened. He introduced the newest member of the group, which was Balor.
At Sunday’s Hell in a Cell pay-per-view event, Judgment Day went over AJ Styles, Balor, and Liv Morgan in a six-person tag team match.
Edge said Balor reached out and put Balor over for being so great. Edge wanted to know what made Balor change his mind. Balor said he saw clarity after Hell in a Cell and joining the group was a calling that he refuses to fight because he’s tired of pretending who he is.
Priest said they were finally to let go of what was the last thing holding them back, which was Edge. They beat down Edge and kicked him out of the group. Edge was seemingly written off TV after Priest hit him with a chair.
Over the last few weeks, The WWE Hall Of Famer has been teasing that the group would be getting another member and hinted at several different names including Ciampa, Paige, Beth Phoenix, and Corey Graves.
WWE announced on this week’s episode of Raw that John Cena will be returning to television on the June 27th episode of Raw from Laredo, TX to celebrate his 20-year anniversary with the company.
A video package hyping his career with the company over the last 20 years aired before the announcement was made. As of this writing, he is not advertised for any other WWE shows, but that could be changing as when he usually returns, it’s not for a one-off, but rather a short run.
John Cena returns to WWE Raw on June 27, 2022
There will be speculation that Cena is returning to start a feud with Theory as they’ve been trading words as of late. Theory previously pitched the idea of facing Cena at SummerSlam which just so happens to take place on July 30th.
Cena recently named Theory as his favorite current star and someone when asked who needs an attitude adjustment, the name of Cena’s finisher. Theory has been reported compared to Cena as Vince McMahon sees him as a younger version of the former WWE Champion.
Cena last wrestled on TV at SummerSlam last year where he lost to Roman Reigns for the Universal Title.
